|
|
|
Rachel Hazell – Diary blog
While hitching a lift on HMS Endurance to the Antarctic Peninsula, Rachel is writing her Diary Blog about her experiences onboard.
31th October. En route.
Ascension Airfield
Ascension Island after miles and miles of cloud landscape which remind me of the ice fields we’re journeying towards….Walk across the tarmac ogling at the volcanic shapes surrounding us. This is Wide Awake Airfield – so called because of the Terns breeding ground which was apparently destroyed to make space for it.
2 hours from the Falklands
We are kept in the compound for three hours because the weather is so bad over the Falklands (there’s even a rumour that we may have to overnight in Uruguay). But indeed we arrive in the Falkland rain, watching sheep disperse and inlets of still water.
Jolly bus ride to the ship and finally the sun comes out. Perfunctory tour of the ship – so much to take on board. It’s very big and red – many of the crew point out how different it is the grey Navy ships, and how lucky we are. Realise how tired I am after all that travel….haul me and my excitement up onto the top bunk (natch) and sleep soundly.
1st November. We sail at eight!
Apparently I missed a group of Commodore dolphins around the quay – too busy stoking up on full cooked breakfast. It’s a day of rules and regs and safety briefings. Also acclimatising to codes,whistles and tannoy announcements. Everyone is very friendly. Much tea to be drunk and conversations to be had. Many birds are winging along with us, including the Brownbrowed albatross, Pintados and Pintails to keep us company.
Hercules Tornado goodbye
Out on deck to see a Hercules and a Tornado give a farewell flyover. Quite queasy in the heavy roll. So decide to skip…the only space to do that is the Forward Hold - probably the worst place for queasiness. Finish up stretching on the cabin floor and eating a bag of Dolly Mixtures…which was not a good idea before Circuits on Deck at 16:30…manage not to be sick – quite an achievement!
Halloween party in Junior Rates mess – some very impressive dressing up. Turn in happy having been promised some charts to work with – rescued from the gash (That’s rubbish to you and me…)
Day 3. Have developed a habit of lingering after meals to drink tea.
All guests and new joiners attend helicopter safety briefing – lots more rules, helmets, earplugs and kit. The best bit as far as I can see is when the situation calls for an Arctic Huddle – piling up all the gear and then lying on it heh hey!
Swellin’ the Fifties
Delighted to spend an hour reading and sending e-mails, and writing this; what a miracle. Still quite a heavy swell and I feel still quite nauseous. Lie down after lunch, selecting images for you and watching the rolling waves. The weather turns to sleet, so Circuit Training is cancelled – ah shame! Gaze instead at the white water crashing over the bow. Sew some little white pages into a circlet of ice cliff. Slowly the sky clears.
Paper Ice
Up on the bridge talking with an ex-competitive swimmer when we notice that whales are blowing (as they come to the surface to breathe) in the distance….oh and then one appears close to the port bow, it’s long back slinking back under the surface. Could have been a humpback. It was around three and a half metres long. Wow! I can hardly breathe and scan the horizon at the same time. Whale spotting til dinner.
Kind Cabin Mate takes me into the Senior Rates Mess for a drink. Odd seeing crew in Reduced Evening Dress (white shirts, polished shoes, perfect creases) relaxing on the sofas, indulging in some gentle civvy ribbing…. The ship unexpectedly rolls spectacularly and every loose item flies across the room – including all the drinks in the fridge cabinet. Finally up to the dark bridge to find out when we might see an iceberg.
Day 4 - Woken at 03:23 by a fire alarm
Leapt out of bed before realising that there was no need to muster as a second alarm had not sounded. Peered out of the porthole hoping for an ice glimpse, and considered visiting the bridge in my pyjamas for an update (possibly a plank walking offence) instead opted for more sleep. Turns out that a large solitary tabular iceberg is seen around six am.
Admiralty Bay
By the time I rise there are a few more hoving into view and land is dimly visible through grey clouds. It takes an age (well several hours) to sail around the north of King George Island past acres of partially exposed rock and palest blue icing sugar glaciers. Admiralty Bay is awesome. In our position we are surrounded by 300 degrees of mountains.
A pipe announces a pod of whales off the bow. All rush out, despite being woefully underdressed for the biting cold (Windchill ten below zero and I’m wearing slippers…) to see three or four small orcas. More and more pintadas, (so called because of the splashes of white that look like paint marks on their wings) have been escorting the ship in loose formation, along with a pair of brown albatross, and a rare white petrel (with a yellow beak).
Both helicopters have been flying on reconnaissance and supply trips for BAS (British Antarctic Survey). The ship circles gently, to maintain position; wheeling for hours past the panorama. I’m suffering slightly from the lethargy that comes from being here, but not out in the snow. Print out a workshop flyer and think about the work I can do whilst here. After asking a Comms guy about flag language, the whole alphabet appears, fully drawn – how kind! I love that it’s a whole other language of symbol and meaning.
Day 5 – Hard to leave the bunk this morning
Weather still atrociously dismal. The ship has surveyed up and down Admiralty Bay all night, and has this morning moved into position for transferring BAS supplies to the ‘Great Wall’ Chinese Base. The scientists, who are looking at sea level change, will stay with the Chinese until their (delayed) camping stuff turns up. Probably no bacon and eggs for breakfast there then.
All kit is winched out of the forward hold by crane and then bundled into massive net parcels. Then the two helicopters take it in turns to collect and deliver each of the ten loads. This takes most of the day; a feat of precision flying and coordination, incredible to watch. Indeed, the bridge has been my home today, a cosy corner by the heated windows where I can take pics, write, ask questions and compare bird-spotting ignorance with whoever will humour me. Interesting to note that the wooden supply boxes are so very similar to those of the early expeditioners a hundred years ago.
Meanwhile the divers head off for drill training getting cold heads and frozen mouthpieces – ow! The Chinese Laundryman has gone to the Great Wall Base for a day trip. Apparently, whenever the ship is in port, he goes in search of the best Chinese Restaurant and takes the officers there for lunch. (Reportedly some dishes quite hard to swallow with a hangover…) A warm front brings driving sleet which grounds the helos for a while…minimal visibility and high winds = tricky. I took a little video off the starboard bow: white spume spangles and bubbles in a continuously shifting web.
Rachel's workshop session on HMS Endurance
First art workshop takes place at five (they say seventeen hundred hours – you know what I mean…) Pleased with the results….. and looking forward to more. A night of excessive cider drinking in the senior rates mess - a situation beyond my control.
Somehow persuaded that a session on the running machine is a good idea after dinner (?) – take it gently and jog for half an hour before slumping in the sauna with most of the emergency fire team. Sleep well – warm and clean.
|
Rachel Hazell Diary Navigation
Part 1 <<
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
|
